A Massachusetts student who was allegedly expelled from school for wearing a T-shirt that said there are only two genders has appeared in court over the ordeal.
Liam Morrison, now in eighth grade, claimed his father had to pick him up from John T. Nichols Jr. in March. Middle School, when he refused to change.
His parents filed a federal free speech lawsuit against the city of Middleborough, former acting principal Heather Tucker, the Middleborough School Committee and Middleborough Public Schools Superintendent Carolyn J. Lyons.
Morrison appeared at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit in Boston on Thursday wearing the same controversial “there are only two genders” t-shirt.
He claims that by forcing him to take off his shirt, the school district suppressed his First Amendment right to freedom of speech and that officials “took away my ability to have a different opinion.”
Massachusetts student Liam Morrison, who was reportedly expelled from school for wearing a T-shirt with the words There Are Only Two Genders, has appeared in court over the ordeal
Liam Morrison, now in eighth grade, claimed his father had to pick him up from John T. Nichols Jr. in March. Middle School, when he refused to change
His parents filed a federal free speech lawsuit against the city of Middleborough, former acting principal Heather Tucker, the Middleborough School Committee and Middleborough Public Schools Superintendent Carolyn J. Lyons (pictured)
Morrison’s lawyer from the Alliance Defending Freedom presented arguments in court on Thursday.
“His T-shirt was not directed at any individual,” attorney David Cortman said. “It was just about the same topic that the school had already addressed, but from a different perspective.”
He claimed that the Middleborough School District celebrates Pride month with flags that send the message that there is “any number of genders.”
Morrison then wore the controversial T-shirt and was reportedly asked by school officials to take it off or leave the school.
The student then wore another top that said ‘there are censored genders’ and was asked to take it off.
“The situation should have been a learning opportunity,” Cortman said. “This should have been a moment… when we teach students how to debate controversial issues of the day, and yet it didn’t happen.”
“They decided to censor him,” he added. “But what the school cannot do, even if they can share their own views, is decide that only students who agree with those views can speak, but anyone who disagrees must be silenced. And that’s exactly what they did here.’
Addressing reporters outside the courthouse on Thursday, Morrison insisted he was singled out because he “expressed my opinion.”
‘This isn’t just about a shirt. “It’s about freedom of expression,” he said. “All students have a constitutional right to express their freedom of expression without fear of punishment by school officials.”
A Boston judge previously ruled that Morrison cannot wear the “there are only two genders” T-shirt while the case is still pending.
Deborah Ecker, the attorney representing the school district, argued, “Looking at what school officials knew about their school, the ages of the children, the LGBTQ community at that school and the real mental health issues, their decision to let the plaintiff removing the T-shirt was reasonable.
“They could reasonably predict that the message, if allowed to wear it at school and in a classroom, would reasonably cause a disruption to school work and infringe on the rights of other students.”
Morrison claimed that by forcing him to take off his shirt, the school district was suppressing his First Amendment right to freedom of speech. “Who is this protected class?” Morrison asked. “Are their feelings more important than my rights?”
He brought up the incident at a Middleborough Public School Council meeting on April 13
Morrison claimed his father had to pick him up from the John T. Nichols Jr. in March. Middle School, when he refused to take off his T-shirt that read “There are only two genders.”
He said school officials told him other students complained it made them feel “unsafe” and “disrupted education.”
Tyson Langhofer, director of the Alliance Defending Freedom Center for Academic Freedom, which helped the family launch the lawsuit, said, “This isn’t about a T-shirt; this is about a public school telling a seventh grader that he is not allowed to have an opinion that differs from the orthodoxy the school favors.
“Public school officials cannot censor Liam’s speech by forcing him to remove a shirt that states a scientific fact. Doing so is a gross violation of the First Amendment.”
He added, “That’s hard to say because their student handbook actually states that public education should be available to members of both genders, and it says that sexual harassment cannot go against either gender.
“So… the school’s own communications actually support Liam’s position. But what they told him is that he can’t express that on his shirt, and we think that’s wrong.”
Morrison spoke about the incident, saying he was pulled out of gym class on March 21 to meet with school officials, who told him people were complaining about his T-shirt and saying it made them feel “unsafe.”
“I was told I had to take my shirt off before I could go back to class. When I politely told them I didn’t want that, they called my father.
‘Luckily my father, who supported my decisions, came to pick me up.
Morrison said he wanted to draw the school committee’s attention to the issue. The School Committee is pictured here at the April 13 meeting
“What did my shirt say?” he continued. ‘Five simple words: “There are only two genders.” Nothing harmful. Nothing threatening. Just a statement that I believe is fact.”
He added that he did not go to school that day to “hurt feelings or cause trouble.”
But school officials told him his shirt “targeted a protected class.”
“Who is this protected class?” Morrison asked. “Are their feelings more important than my rights?”
‘I don’t complain when I see Pride flags and diversity posters throughout the school. Do you know why? Because others have a right to their beliefs just like me,” he said.
Middleborough Public Schools Superintendent Lyons said Liam had violated the dress code.
She said the “contents of Liam’s shirt targeted students in a protected class; namely in the area of gender identity.’
DailyMail.com has contacted Middleborough Public Schools for comment.